Bright lights and Glamour in Hong Kong and Macau

Hey guys! This will be my last post on my Asia trip! Thanks for sticking with me so far!

Our last leg of the trip was in Hong Kong and Macau. I had previously been to Hong Kong before, to catch my one way flight to Canada so I don't remember much from my trip oh so many years ago. Overall, it's truly a city that never sleeps and probably the best shopping experience I've ever had. The bright lights and the crowds are one of a kind and there's something for everyone in this city.

Our trip started with a view of Tai Peng Peak, one of the best places to see Victoria Harbour from above. 

Very foggy though

At night we visited the Mong Kok district where the locals like to shop. I had never seen this many people and shops all concentrated in one spot. Very cool, very busy. 

Hong Kong is famous for its local delicacies and I was so excited to try all the foods! One of my favourites was the wonton soup that I had. Everything just tasted that much better in Hong Kong. I think what I liked about it more then anything was just how all the components in the soup worked together to make something better.

The wontons were so good! 

There's also lots of street food available and these little egg cakes smelled really good!

Tsim Sha Chui is one of the best spots to view the brights lights of the harbour at night. With the live music, the bright lights and a light sea breeze, it's a nice way to spend the night.

Macau

The next day we took a tour to Macau to check out the island. This is the biggest gambling spot in Asia, taking in more profit then even Las Vegas for the last few years. We got really lucky with the weather since the island usually experiences very foggy weather year-round. 

I believe there are over 30 casinos on the island, enough to suit any gambler's appetite for gambling. Macau is also famous for its Portuguese tarts.

I've had one of these in Toronto before but of course the Macau ones were so much better! They were fresh, there wasn't too much crust and it was just sweet enough. 

Our guide was kind enough to take us on a walking tour of old Macau. It started at the ruins of St. Paul's church, a local landmark.

From here, we took a walk down Largo do Senado and found this beautiful, Mexican styled church.

There were lots of faithful inside the church

Outside, the streets were filled with people and the pre-Chinese New Year decorations were already up.

We got a glimpse of the gambling culture in Macau with the huge stream of Chinese gamblers coming to gamble and views of Stanley Ho's casinos throughout the city.

The shape of the building had to do with Feng Shui

We only got to visit one casino on this trip, which was the Emperor Casino, owned in part by Jackie Chan. There were 88 gold bars in the lobby, another Feng Shui idea.  I really understood how superstitious some of these people were when I was trying to take a photo of the gold bars. There was a manager at the lobby to prevent people from bending down to take a photo since it was "bad luck". There was another piece at the side just for photography purposes. 

Iphone sized gold bar

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Hong Kong and Macau and I would love to come back. This was a trip of a lifetime, and thank you for coming along with me. Have a great week!

The Temple of Heaven and Blue Skies at the Summer Palace

 Hey guys! This will be the last part of the series in Beijing. I'm almost done my trip, thanks for hanging on with me!

After visiting the Forbidden City, we then went to Beijing's other very famous landmark, the Temple of Heaven. As you know, Chinese people can be very superstitious and back in the day, the Emperor ( link to God)  would try to appease the gods in many ways, including worshipping at this temple every year.

Of course before we went in, we stopped at a Chinese Bakery for some eats. God the food was so good and cute!

Almost makes me not want to eat them

Apparently the Temple of Heaven is a local hangout and all the seniors come here to chill with their friends.

The most iconic building in this area was the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, with its triple decked roof.

The inside of the circular building was absolutely gorgeous. I think I almost like it better then the Forbidden City.

Ancient Chinese Door-knocker

 Summer Palace

For our last day in Beijing, we went to the Summer Palace, unfortunately, since we were visiting in Winter, the sights weren't as great as they could be. But luckily we finally saw the clear blue sky for the first time since we were in China. 

We got to walk through the Long Corridor where each beam and overhead area is hand painted.

As far as the eye can see

We found a guy selling sugar art, where you take malt candy and blow different shapes into to make edible art.

We each got a candy figure :D

The Summer Palace was a great place to visit and it probably would've been better if we had came in the summer time. 

We got to try the famous Beijing Tanghulu before we left the city. This is a snack that has candied hawthorn berries on a bamboo stick and I've been seeing these on TVB dramas ever since I was little. We got a modern version with candied fruits too and it was so much better then I expected! Not too sweet, not too tangy and the texture was so nice and crunchy! 10/10 would try again :)

Thanks so much for reading everyone!

Into the Forbidden City and Peking Ducks

Our next adventure in Beijing was dedicated to going to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. However, due to the large number of photos I took, I've decided to split the posts into two so you guys won't be overwhelmed ( or be here forever while the pictures load). But I will say that today's post will be very photo heavy.

The Forbidden City, if you didn't know was the home of the Chinese emporer for the last 500 years (spanning the Ming and Qing Dynasty). I believe it is one of the largest wooden palaces in the world and only a small part of it is open to the public. 

We started the day with another Beijing specialty, almost a salty crepe with meat and vegetables. So fresh, so good ^^.

Yum!

The weather was starting to cooperate and you could almost see the blue sky!

This photo makes it seem like the place is empty...it's not

Each of the halls inside have a plaque stating the name of the hall and elaborately decorated roofs and support beams.

Smile!

They had water spouts in the shape of dragons to prevent flooding when it rained.

The halls ranged from places the Emperor conducted his affairs with his ministers, to his office to places he hung out. You can't go in but you can try and look from the outside to get an idea of how it looked back then.

Love the throne chair!

There were these giant urns outside that had gold scratch marks on them. According to Chrissy's relative, that was leftover from when the English and French raided the palace and evidence of their attempt to scratch off all the gold.

They did a pretty good job with getting most of it off

The entrance to each of the halls had a middle section that was sectioned off since that used to be exclusively used by the Emperor.

Dragons everywhere

The palace grounds were so large that sometimes you feel like you're just walking around and around in a circle.

Found a few stragglers outside

On our way out we went to Jinshan Hill, one of the highest points within Beijing. The view of the Forbidden City was breathtaking.

This was another nice view of the city from the outside. Interesting how the moat has frozen over.

At night, we tried another famous Beijing dish, the Peking duck! I've tried this dish many times before in Toronto but of  course, I had to try it again in Beijing. The skin was much more crispy and the duck meat was really tender. The best part was that the duck didn't feel fatty at all.

I'm so hungry

Overall, I loved visiting the Forbidden City and I'm glad I had the chance to do so.

Thanks for reading everyone!

Hiking on the Great Wall of China

I've now completed the Shanghai portion of the trip and we left for Beijing on a nine hour train from Shanghai.

I must say that the train station in Shanghai was one of the nicest and newest train stations I've ever seen. Everything was really modern and clean. The trains were comfortable, and the seats had lots of legroom. It was much better then I had imagined.

Train platform in Shanghai

Comfy for the ride

 Our first stop in Beijing was to visit the Great Wall of China.

A lot of tourists will typically go to Badaling, a section of the Great Wall that’s closest to Beijing but luckily we had Auntie Janet's cousin bring us to a more interesting part of the wall where we were free to explore on our own. Jinshanling is a part of the wall that has appeared in numerous films and TV sequences. The first part of the wall was very well maintained but soon, we begin to see more imperfect parts of the wall.

Lots of crumbled walls and incomplete sections

 But it was great to get away from the crowds of Beijing and really spend some time exploring the Great Wall of China.

On a clear day, you can see for miles

 It was quite dangerous climbing the wall since there were many high and uneven steps and it began to snow while we started climbing.

Broken, jagged, slippery steps

The climb itself wasn't too physically taxing, there were lots of flat-ish sections for us to walk. Going down was more awful since it was so slippery.

Of course since this is China, you can get food everywhere. I found a local selling coffee, tea and snacks on the Great Wall.

Good selection of items too

Of course I had to try a cup of coffee!

Good way to stay warm too

 On our way back, we met another local farmer who was selling souvenirs on the wall. She was extremely fit for a 60 year old and even helped some of us come down on the more steep parts.

Here's a picture of her trying to give us directions

Overall, it was an amazing experience to get to climb the Great Wall of China. I'm happy to say this is another item off of the bucket list.

Gotta leave my mark on the wall :)

 Thanks for reading everyone!